2019 INSIDE Letter From the President/CEO Mission Reflections Impact Special Projects Snapshot Mentor Fellow Update ANNUAL REPORT ANNUAL Native Nation Partnerships Financial Board of Directors Thank You to Supporters “Bessie,” “Bessie,” 10-Year Anniversary glass bead weaving, Mentor Artist Fellow joint project, Will Wilson & Samantha Tracy, 2019 Will Wilson & Samantha Tracy, joint project, Artist Fellow Mentor glass bead weaving, PRESIDENT / CEO PRESIDENT message from the The Indigenous arts and cultures of the Native peoples of the United States are strong and thriving, despite the invisibility and stereotypical misrepresentations that prevail across the country. The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation expresses sincere appreciation to our friends, artists, and communities for continually inspiring us and working “Corn Maiden,” together to advance Native truth and knowledge. We could not do our work without continued T. Lulani Arquette (President/CEO) support and encouragement from the donors and 2019 & David Naranjo, Jason Garcia, joint project, Artist Fellow Mentor Lodge, mural at Nativo Wall foundations who have made NACF possible. We are deeply grateful! During 2019, we reflected on our past ten years and engaged in the Wakanim Journey, our strategic planning process, while also continuing important programming. We learned of the extraordinary growth many artists and communities have experienced as a result of our awards. We have worked with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Klamath Tribes, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs through our Native Nation Partnerships programming in 2019. One of these projects, the Language Arts and Culture Movement, provided several opportunities for community engagement with activities designed to create awareness about language among the Yakima, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and Umatilla tribes. Last year marked NACF’s tenth anniversary since we opened our doors, a year of reflection, and a time to review our work. 2020 will continue our anniversary as it is the ten-year mark from our first year of programming, which began in 2010. We thank you for your support and look forward to deepening relationships and fostering new collaborations. Me ka mahalo nui (with deep gratitude), mission The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation advances equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and Lulani Arquette (Native Hawaiian) promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, President/CEO Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States. IMPACT survey reflections: survey results: The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) was humbled and grateful this year. We have gratitude for all who have made our work possible for the past ten years 92% of artists said there was an and who have contributed their time, creativity, courage, resources, and invaluable increase in capacity to develop their feedback. 92% projects We used the Wakanim Journey, our strategic planning process, as a way to connect with past awardees, artists and organizations who we have worked with since our first award cycle in 2010. We surveyed past fellows and organizations who we have 74% of awardees indicated that funded and worked with to identify our strengths and areas for growth. We learned their most serious concern was the that our collaboration with and support for Native artists over the past decade helped 74% close to 70% of our awardees leverage even more support from other organizations environment (e.g. land stewardship, in the form of grants, awards, fellowships, and residencies. These collaborations protection of natural resources, also helped awardees build or sacred sites, climate change) increase new audiences and patrons, effectively growing their partnership network. 72% of organization respondents The artists and organizations surveyed also revealed areas 72% indicated preservation, revitalization where NACF could expand. and/or protection of culture as a One area that we feel strongly priority (e.g. food ways, language, about is catalyzing Native traditional arts/culture practices, etc.) artists and culture bearers to influence positive social, cultural, and environmental change. Moving forward, 70% of artists said they experienced we also want to create an increase in other grants and more opportunities to 70% connect Native artists and opportunities organizations with other resources through training, networking, and public Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo), artist and NACF Board member relations. 58% of fellows responded that perceptions, accuracy, and awareness As part of our advocacy and thought leadership efforts, NACF staff facilitated, 58% about Native Peoples was important presented, or sponsored ten panel presentations in 2019 at national conferences and major art institutions. Of the topics explored were issues of identity, the environment and climate change, women as culture bearers and leaders in the arts, and the intersection of art and social justice issues affecting Indigenous communities. For 53% of artists said NACF could better 2020, we vow to continue our commitment to shift the narrative of Native peoples serve their work by convening with and to increase the reach of arts to impact social change. 53% peers and/or communities PROGRAMS IMPACT outreach special projects Outreach & Engagement WE SUPPORTED NACF’s work and strengths exist within the context of our communities. In 2019, we connected and worked with 138 organizations and tribal organizations, local, regional, and national American Indian Artists Inc. (AMERINDA) 138 government agencies, funders and educational The Heart Stays - Film Post Production institutions. Association of Performing Arts Professionals Association of Performing Arts Professionals Conference - Public Programs Special Project Awards Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries & Museums (ATALM) This year NACF awarded a wide range of local, ATALM International Conference - Public Programs regional and national organizations that share our vision, and have the demonstrated capacity to build Christopher K. Morgan & Artists a flourishing Native arts and cultural landscape. Association of Performing Arts Professionals - Public Programs 16 Conscience Point Film, LLC Conscience Point - Film Post Production Artist Panels & Events As part of NACF’s ongoing work to advocate for Global First Nations Performance Network First Nations Dialogues - Convening and Symposium Native artists and organizations, we facilitated or sponsored events that increase the reach of arts to Honolulu Biennial Foundation impact social change and promote opportunities Honolulu Biennial 2019 - Public Programs 14 for a more accurate narrative of Indigenous peoples. Honolulu Museum of Art Honolulu Biennial 2019 - Public Programs Jim Denomie Native Nation Partnerships Bienal de Arte Contemporânea Sesc_Videobrasil - Artist Exhibition (Brazil) The Community Inspiration Program Native Nation Partnerships (NNP) supports Native organizations Ke Kukui Foundation working on tribal and Native homelands to engage Four Days of Aloha Hawaiian Festival - Public Programs communities through a social art project. Kua`aina Associates, Inc. 5 Ancestral Ink: A Symposium Honoring Indigenous Tattoo Traditions - Public Programs In June of 2019, the 2018 Mentor Artist Portland Art Museum Fellowship cohort of apprentices completed Akunnittinni: A Kinngait Family Portrait - Art Exhibition their 12-month program with a week-long Seattle Office of Arts and Culture residency led by Ka’ila Farrell-Smith and e ’ Signal Fire. The residency, funded in part by Fiscal Sponsor: Na’ah Illahee Fund y haw - Art Exhibition NACF, was designed to connect Indigenous Southwestern Association for Indian Arts artists with sacred cultural sites and the natural 2019 Sante Fe Indian Market - Art Exhibition beauty of Oregon’s backcountry. During a seven-day backcountry trip across Southern Signal Fire Oregon, the apprentices visited Crater Lake, White Pelican Pod: Indigenous Artist Retreat - Mentor Artist Fellow Apprentices Summer Lake, and hiked extensively at Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. The Native Wisdom Documentary Film Series - Public Programs PROGRAMS special projects HONOLULU BIENNIAL Drawing inspiration from a poem written by kānaka maoli artist Imaikalani Kalahele called “Manifesto,” the 2019 Honolulu Biennial was deeply rooted in the concerns of Indigenous peoples. The exhibition’s title, “To Make Wrong/Right/Now” considered ancestry as a way of rectifying colonial injustices. This year, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) partnered with the Honolulu Biennial Foundation, the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA), Rainbow Pineapple Foundation, and Engaging the Senses Foundation to present “Crossroads,” Chiharu Shiota, Honolulu Biennial, 2019. Picutred with Honolulu Biennial 2019 Co-Curator, Nina Tonga. a cohort of NACF artist fellows during the Biennial. NACF presented several events during the opening weekend of the Biennial, including a hip-hop performance by National Artist Fellow Allison Akootchook Warden (Iñupiaq) at the opening ceremony, plus exhibitions and panel presentations by NACF artist fellows at both HoMA and the Biennial. Among the National Artist Fellows exhibiting at HoMA were Marie Watt (Seneca), exhibiting “Au’a, Kā’elo,” Kā’elo,” “Au’a, “Companion Species (Speech Bubble)”—a piece that explores the intersection of community